The Woman Who Rides Like a Man Read Online Free Page B

old Maude, who was our village healing-woman. You see, Thom had no turn for woodcraft and archery, and I did. He was good at magical things.
    "When our father decided it was time for me to go to the convent and learn to be a lady, I didn't want to. And Thom didn't want to go to the palace and become a knight."
    "You changed places," whispered Kourrem. Kara's eyes were like saucers.
    Alanna nodded. "Thom forged letters from our father. He went to the City of the Gods, and I went to the palace as his twin 'brother' Alan."
    "Did your brother disguise himself as a girl?" Kara wanted to know.
    Alanna laughed. "Of course not! The Daughters at the convent took boys who would be priests and sorcerers, until they were twelve or so. Then Thom went to the Mithran priests to complete his studies. He left them only a few months ago; he's the youngest Master living."
    "He must have great power," Kara breathed.
    "He certainly does," Alanna replied slowly. And the ambition to go with it, she added to herself.
    "You lived as a boy all those years?" Kourrem demanded. "And no one guessed? No one knew?"
    "One of my teachers, Sir Myles of Olau, guessed. I had to use magic to save Prince Jonathan when he had the Sweating Sickness, and Myles was watching; he must have seen something that gave me away. He knew for years, but he never told anyone. I told George Cooper when I needed a healing-woman once."
    "Who is this George Cooper?" asked Kourrem.
    Alanna grinned. "The King of the Thieves."
    "You told a thief your secret?" Kara gasped.
    "I knew I could trust him. He's always done well by me."
    "Did anyone else know?" Kourrem's mouth was full again.
    "Prince Jonathan found out, when we fought the Ysandir." Both girls made the Sign against evil; like all Bazhir, they had grown up fearing the Ysandir. "They made my clothes disappear," Alanna continued, blushing. "By that time I was old enough—there was no way Jon could have misunderstood."
    "Your chest," Kara nodded. Startled, she added, "That's right! How did you manage disguising that?"
    "I bound myself," Alanna confessed. "I never took my shirt off around the boys, either. It was difficult at first, but after a while they just accepted the fact that I was eccentric."
    "I still don't understand." Kara was frowning. "Women are weaker than men, and unfitted to be warriors. Surely they could tell—"
    "Not from me," Alanna said firmly, finishing off her juice. "I worked hard to win my shield. I got up early; I practiced late at night. It was hard, very hard. But it was worth it. I was good enough that Jonathan made me his squire."
    "Did he change his mind when he found out the truth?" Kourrem asked as she tidied up.
    Alanna's blush returned. "No. He said he didn't care, I was still one of the best fighters at Court."
    "None of our men would've said that," Kourrem muttered. "Even if it was true."
    "You can't know that," Alanna told the younger girl. "I didn't find out until recently that Myles had known all these years. Men are peculiar." Looking at Kara, she said, "Why are you so unhappy?"
    "You never had a young man," Kara explained mournfully. "You know—to bring you tokens, to take you walking—"
    "Neither have we," Kourrem reminded her.
    "We're practically outcasts from the tribe," Kara responded. "Surely Alanna's case is different."
    "Unless Prince Jonathan—" Kourrem murmured. Both girls saw the misty smile on Alanna's face and giggled.
    "It's time for me to have a look around the village," Alanna told them as she rose. She couldn't explain that her relationship with Jon had progressed far beyond the tokens-and-walks stage. Neither could she tell these two innocents that George, the King of the Thieves, had indicated more than once he would like to take Jonathan's place in her affections.
    They would just be confused, Alanna told herself as the girls donned face veils once more. Although they certainly can't be any more confused than l am.
    *
    The dust-colored tent village was quiet, except